


Extended

by Yadirocks



Series: The Core [3]
Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-12 20:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10498566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yadirocks/pseuds/Yadirocks
Summary: The clock is running on Yadier, and its tick is beginning to annoy Adam.





	

Losing Holli had been difficult enough. He was one of the pillars, someone Adam could trust, someone he could lean on at the end of a taxing day. Adam wanted to curse his name when he signed with the Yankees, but he knew deep down it wasn't the outfielder's fault. No contract was ever offered to him, and he took the best option for himself after the Cardinals turned their attention elsewhere.

Now, though, he was faced with an even bigger fear: losing Yadier too. The catcher was half asleep on the couch in their hotel room in Memphis, a beer in one hand and the other draped across his stomach. Adam took the empty beer can from Yadier's hand, gagging at the smell. Just because he had popped champagne bottles and cracked open his own share of beer cans didn't mean the smell of beer didn't make him grimace.

Adam tapped Yadier's cheek. "Come on, buddy, you should probably go to bed," Adam said, nudging his friend until the his drowsy brown eyes opened. The catcher sighed and lifted his arms. "Carry me," he said. Adam laughed and pushed Yadier's reaching arms away from him. "I'm not carrying you to bed, princess. Go to bed. You're drunk."

"Am not," Yadier retorted. "Just a little sleepy is all." He smiled at Adam, but it was lopsided, making it very hard for Adam to keep a straight face. Of course, he knew this is why Yadier liked to bunk with him. Despite Yadier's ugly habits, like getting drunk, Adam wouldn't think any lesser of him for it. The catcher reached up with a sigh and ran a hand over the top of Adam's head and whispered in his ear, "Are you going to miss me?"

Adam smirked, pulling Yadier's arm down. "Miss you? How can I miss you if you're right here? I could actually use some time away from you," he said, nudging Yadier with his elbow. Yadier huffed, and mumbled something about Adam being rude. "Fine, I won't miss you either," he said, before standing and stumbling his way to his bedroom. 

Adam frowned. "What are you talking about?" he asked, putting his hand on Yadier's arm to keep him from running into the edge of the wall between the living room and Yadier's bedroom. Yadier turned with a sigh. Then, he laughed, though this one was more hysterical than the others. He cupped his hands around Adam's ear and whispered, "Mo might not give me an extension."

He froze, which made Yadier giggle. "Don't tell Waino," he said, wiggling his finger at Adam. Suddenly, rage overtook him. He turned Yadier around and lead him to his room. This was a cruel joke Yadier was playing, even though he knew he was drunk and didn't know better. Yadier collapsed on his bed and immediately passed out, a drunken smile still plastered to his face.

Adam stared at his friend for a moment longer. _He was just drunk,_ Adam told himself. There was no way Yadier wasn't going to get extended. He couldn't leave. It wasn't possible. He refused to let the thought simmer on his mind for long. Instead, he pulled a blanket over Yadier and turned out the lights, not glancing back at the catcher. Adam crawled into his own bed and went straight to sleep, ignoring the pestering thought Yadier had just placed into his mind. That was too hard to think about to be true.

***********

The next morning, Adam sat at the island in the middle of the tiny kitchen. He had poured himself a bowl of corn flakes, but he only played with his food. Yadier wasn't awake yet. He was sure to have a migraine after getting drunk the night before. Normally, he wouldn't have cared, and he would've let Yadier lick his own wounds, but today felt different somehow. He knocked on the door to Yadier's room, not waiting for a response before opening it. 

The catcher was sitting on the edge of his bed, rubbing his hands over his eyes. Adam swallowed down his panic and instead grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen from nearby. "You didn't take this yet, did you?" he asked quietly so as not to make Yadier's headache worse. After a moment, the catcher whispered, "No."

Adam gave a short nod, then opened the cabinet in the hallway that container the washer and dryer. He took out Yadier's jersey and his own, throwing Yadier his. It landed on his head, but he was in too much pain to remove it, so it rested on his black curls as Adam gathered more of Yadier's articles of clothing.

"Here," he said finally, putting Yadier's uniform in his lap. He grabbed the jersey from the top of Yadier's head to reveal a confused Yadier beneath. He frowned. "Weird," he murmured. "Maybe I'm not the only one who is sick."

"What do you mean?" he asked, buttoning his jersey. Yadier shrugged. "Usually, you yell at me when I get drunk. You are quiet and helpful today. It is strange," he said. 

Adam turned his head to look back at Yadier. "Would you prefer me to stop?" he asked, his tone coming out sharper than he meant. Yadier's eyes widened at the tone, and he shook his head. Then, he groaned, putting his hand to his forehead. "Should not have done that," he muttered, chastising his own ignorance.

They stopped at an IHop a few miles from the hotel to eat. Yadier looked tired. It was his own fault for being stupid, but Adam still handed him two Tylenol pills. "Take those only after you eat," he commanded, returning his eyes to his coffee. 

Yadier frowned at him, but didn't say anything. They sat in awkward silence, neither moving to grab their phones or to speak. When their food came, they hadn't spoken more than a few words to each other. 

Finally, Yadier asked, "Are you mad at me?" Adam stared at his bacon, the only thing on his plate of sausage and eggs that he felt like eating. His silence was Yadier's answer, and the catcher went silent. He looked up to see Yadier with his head in his hands. He sighed, knowing it wasn't fair to Yadier for him to be confusing and frustrating him even more when he had a headache. 

He reached out and touched Yadier's arm. "Don't worry about it. Eat. You need to get some food in you before you take that medicine. We're not leaving here until you eat," he threatened.

Yadier dropped his hands. He looked angry. "Would you care to tell me why you are mad at me yet you are acting more concerned than you did before?" he snapped. Adam stared at his own plate for a long time, hoping the question would vaporize in thin air instead of huddling around them and creating a tense atmosphere. Finally, he said, "You got drunk last night. You said some things."

The catcher went silent. Adam cleared his throat. "Now, would you care to tell me why you said that Mo might not sign you?" he countered.

Yadier's eyes were averted to his fork, which hadn't moved since the waitress had set it down. "Well...because he might not, Adam," he admitted quietly. "I shouldn't have said that, but it's not a lie."

"And you didn't care to tell me that you thought you might leave after this season?" He asked angrily. 

Yadier shrugged. "I didn't feel like it was any of your business and that you wouldn't care anyway. It is what it is, Adam. If Mo doesn't want me anymore, then I'll go somewhere that I'm wanted. No big deal."

No big deal. That stung. "Leaving me is no big deal. I get it now. Thanks," Adam muttered, slapping down twenty dollars and standing from the table. Yadier looked up from his plate. "Where are you going?" He asked, standing as well.

Adam turned and glared at him. "Away from you, since that's obviously what you want. Careful what you wish for, Yadier. You might get exactly what you want."

He left the catcher standing there, Tylenol in his hand.

******

"Stop acting like a girl, Adam."

"I'm not acting like a girl. He's acting like a girl."

"Hate to break it to you, buddy, but that's exactly what a girl would say."

Michael sat up on his bed, catching the baseball he had thrown up in the air. "Look, he's got three days until this dumb extension drama is over. Now may be a time when he needs someone the most, and you just up and left him at that IHop like you were in some movie or something. Don't be so dramatic. Be a man, if you even have the balls to do it," the younger pitcher said.

Stephen Piscotty took off his glasses and turned in his swivel chair from where he had been sitting and looking at scouting reports on his laptop. "I agree with Mikey, for once. He's your friend, Adam. I don't think he meant to say you're not a big deal to him," he reasoned.

Adam sighed, staring down at his phone. Yadier had tried calling him five times and he had received numerous texts, but now those had stopped. He looked at Yadier's last message: :(. That had been nearly an hour ago. 

He couldn't help but wish Holli were here. He'd keep them together. He wouldn't pick a side. He'd stick them back together, whether they liked it or not. That's what friends do. He sighed. "Yadier isn't my friend. If he were, he would care. He doesn't," he murmured.

Michael snorted. "I'm friends with Baby Pedro and I don't care about what he does. That crazy kid could jump off the top of Busch and I'd be right there filming the entire thing," he said. Adam rolled his eyes. "Well, excuse me for having a friend that means more to me than YouTube views. Jesus, Mikey, grow up," he snapped.

The younger pitcher narrowed his eyes at him, and Stephen turned back around to his laptop. "Well, if I'm too immature for my opinion to matter, why did you even come here in the first place? To hide?" Michael asked. "You can't hide from him for long, Adam. He's going to be starting every day. Just get over this little dispute. You're grouchy when you're not with Yadier, so you might not have many people on your side with that attitude."

Adam stared at his hands. His phone buzzed, and he looked at the caller ID, expecting it to be Yadier. He nearly hung up, until he saw the B in front of Molina, not a Y. His eyebrows furrowed, and he answered the call. 

"Bengie? Did Yadier tell you to call me because he knew I wouldn't answer his calls?" He asked, anger growing in his heart.

The eldest Molina sighed. "No, he didn't, I can't even get ahold of him myself, Adam. He was answering my texts earlier, and then he stopped. He always answers. What happened?"

Adam tried not to panick. He was mad at Yadier, extremely mad, but something told him he needed to find him. 

He called Yadier several times, each time receiving a voice mail. He growled in frustration, getting in his car and driving to the IHop where he had left Yadier. The table they had been sitting at was still messy. The Tylenol pills were on Yadier's still-full plate of food. Adam looked around for the catcher, searching high and low.

He opened the door to the bathroom to find a figure on their knees in front of the toilet. The door was locked, so Adam crawled underneath to door to reach Yadier, who looked green with sickness. Adam cursed himself for leaving his friend when he knew he wasn't well, the guilt eating at him as he tried to wake Yadier. 

"I am awake," he murmured softly before Adam could shake him. He winced and turned his head, coughing into the bowl. Adam waited for his face to turn a normal shade again before helping him sit against the wall. He didn't care that the floor was disgusting. He didn't care that it smelled like vomit. All he cared about was the sick catcher sitting in front him, laboring to take calming breaths. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered to Yadier. The catcher put his hand up to stop him. "No. I'm sorry. Shouldn't have..." he paled slightly, then fought through his pain to finish. "Shouldn't have said it was no big deal."

They sat for a moment, and this time the silence wasn't awkward. It was actually soothing, in a way. Finally, Adam bit his lip before admitting, "You asked me something before you told me that."

Yadier opened his eyes, letting Adam know he was listening. He swallowed down the lump in his throat and said, "You asked if I would miss you."

The catcher sighed, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Adam pulled Yadier into a hug. "Just to answer your question," he said, holding back his tears. "I'd miss you every day. You don't need to sign a contract to be my best friend, Yadi."

Yadier hugged Adam back. "That's good because I'm not very good at negotiations," he said with a tired smile on his face. They stayed in the hug until they both realized that they had been in an IHop men's room for the last twenty minutes.

"Come on," Adam said, pulling away from Yadier and giving his friend a soft smile. "Let's find a way to get that medicine in you."

Yadier returned the smile. "I actually feel a lot better now," he said. "Maybe I just needed to throw up."

 


End file.
